Sunday, July 31, 2016

Sporting Kansas City continued their current home unbeaten run with a win over the Portland Timbers 1-0 at Children's Mercy Park. Unlike their previous matches in the win streak where Kansas City has scored three goals in each game, Kansas City had struggles finding the back of the net again thanks to some poor finishing and good goalkeeping by Jake Gleeson. It took a flicked header by Jacob Peterson off a Benny Feilhaber free kick to give KC the only goal they needed.

Portland started the game on the front foot, pressing Kansas City in their own end. Kansas City didn't help themselves out as the defensive giveaways returned in the game. A poor clearance by Lawrence Olum allowed Ben Zemanski to set up Darlington Nagbe, but Alec Kann made a nice diving save to his right to tip the ball wide for a corner kick. KC came back and in the 20th had a chance of their own as Gleeson didn't handle a low cross by Peterson, spilling it right in front of his goal. The Timbers defense only cleared it as far as Feilhaber at the top of the box, but his shot with his left foot hit the cross bar leaving the game scoreless. Portland continued to have the better of the play as the half continued but both teams went into the half without a goal.

Early in the second half though KC jumped on top thanks to a free kick by Feilhaber that Peterson flicked on into the net to put KC up 1-0. The goal seemed to wake the Kansas City offense up as they started to create more chances for themselves. Only the goalkeeping of Gleeson kept KC from adding to their lead. Less than five minutes after the goal Dom Dwyer had been left unmarked on the back post where he received a cross, brought it down, but his shot high to the near post was saved by Gleeson. On the ensuing corner the ball made it to Olum who headed the ball back across goal, but Gleeson was able to dive back and get a hand on it to keep it out before Portland cleared up the rebound. Minues later Gleeson again denied Dwyer after he was played in by Peterson, the rebound fell to Connor Hallisey who had a good look but Gleeson was back to his feet and knocked that shot away. KC continued the pressure but Gleeson was up to the task. Late on the Timbers had a great chance to equalize on the counter. With a five on three advantage, Diego Valeri fed the ball wide to Jack McInerney who curled a shot towards the far post, but his effort hit the cross bar and bounced away. Minutes later the final whistle blew and KC walked out the winners.

Wizards Man of the Match - Jacob Peterson - Scored the winner for Sporting and had a strong game overall. He almost set up Dwyer for a goal shortly after his effort. And he did all of this when it looked like he'd sub out early in the first half.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Sporting Kansas City are back at home for another game on national television tomorrow at Children's Mercy Park, this time the club will be on broadcast television as Sporting KC will take on the Portland Timbers on Fox tomorrow. Not Fox Sports 1, not Fox Sports Midwest, but Fox itself, the first time possibly since MLS Cup 2000 that Kansas City has appeared on a major network for one of their games.

The Timbers come limping into this game in terms of health, especially in the back where the team is suffering through issues with their defense. The Timbers won't have either of their preferred starting center backs as Nat Borchers ruptured his Achilles last week against the LA Galaxy and is done for the season while his partner, Liam Ridgewell is suspended for the game because of the league's All Star game rule. Ridgewell was selected for the game but was unable to compete due to injury, after year's of players back out of the All Star game with "injuries" but then being able to play the following weekend, the league instituted a rule that if a player selected didn't play he was suspended, so Ridgewell is suspended for tomorrow's game. That will leave the Timbers short handed in the back for tomorrow, where former Kansas City midfielder, Amobi Okugo is likely to start at center back. While they have defensive issues the Timbers have plenty to worry about offensively with Fanendo Adi and Diego Valeri, the pair have combined for 19 goals for the Timbers this season and will be a handful for KC's defense.

Kansas City will have a suspension of their own, although Matt Besler wasn't going to play in the game tomorrow due to the knee injury that kept him out of the All Star game to begin with. Even if healthy, Peter Vermes was likely to stick with Lawrence Olumand Ike Opara at center back for the game. Elsewhere on the field though KC looks like they'll be lucky to be able to dress a full 18 with injuries to Brad Davis, Justin Mapp, Justin Mapp, Jacob Peterson, and a host of others. With all the injuries KC the question will be whether they can retain their current home form against a strong Timbers offense.

Porter - Dwyer - Hallisey

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Mustivar

Medranda - Olum - Opara - Abdul-Salaam

Melia

Number to Remember - 4 - That's the number of home losses that Kansas City has this season. Currently sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference, the five other playoff teams that this point have a combined two home losses, and both of those are by sixth place Vancouver. The other four teams in the West currently in a playoff position have yet to lose. Portland, tomorrow's opponent isn't much better than KC having lose three at home.

Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Portland defense - With Borchers and Ridgewell both out it'll be a patchwork defense for the defending MLS Cup champions. Unfortunately Kansas City has seemed to have trouble putting those undermanned teams to the sword and taking care of business in the past. Tomorrow a lot of pressure will be on Dom Dwyer to take advantage of an undermanned Portland defense, even if he's working with the end of the bench as his wingers.

PREDICTION - Kansas City has been playing very well at home over the last few games, having scored three goals in each of their last three home games. Portland isn't a great road team, having yet to win a game on the road this season although they have six draws. Still, with KC's current home form this is a game that KC not only should win, but really has to win to continue to keep themselves in a playoff position.

Friday, July 29, 2016

The same day as the latest rumor regarding Dom Dwyer leaving Kansas City, a new rumor about an incoming player has surfaced. Reports out of Argentina are that Sporting Kansas City is after attacking midfielder, Sebastian Blanco, who currently plays for San Lorenzo in the Argentine Primera Division. The 28 year old has been with San Lorenzo with a little over a year after spending time with West Brom in England and Metalist Kharkiv of Ukraine. While he mainly plays centrally, he also can play on the outside, two positions that Kansas City have stated that they were looking to address during this summer transfer window.

Sporting currently has an attacking midfield in MVP finalist, Benny Feilhaber, but he is out of contract at the end of this season, and at 31 the question will become whether Kansas City will give him the long term deal he likely wants. Blanco's ability to play on the outside could come in very handy for the club as well, especially if Feilhaber does stay.

Kansas City isn't the only MLS team that is reportedly interested in Blanco. Since the summer two other MLS teams have been linked with the Argentine. Back in June the reports were that the Seattle Sounders had put in a bid on Blanco after it looked like they wouldn't sign Nicolas Lodeiro, who they signed this week. Then just a few days ago it was came out that Toronto was the club that was going after the Argentine as someone to help provide service for Sebastian Giovinco. According to the article, Blanco is valued at around $3,000,000 which honestly would seem to be a turn off for Kansas City who likes to go after players who are out of contract. Seattle and Toronto are two teams that are more likely to make that sort of big splash to sign a player, not Kansas City. So in the end while it's a fun rumor to hope for, based on Kansas City's history, this sort of move would be out of character.

The Dom Dwyer to Greece rumors continue while Sporting Kansas City continues to deny them. The latest reports do seem a little dubious though as The Blue Testament reports. The front page of a Greek newspaper reported that Kansas City had supposedly accepted a 4.5 million Euro deal ($5 million US) from Olympiakos and is just waiting on Dwyer to approve the move. The $5 million supposed bid is $2 million more than the initial bid that was reported on Sunday night. Inside the Greek paper though there was no mention of Dwyer, instead it mentioned a 4.5 million Euro bid for Gia Gonzalez according to TBT.

The reported fee, if true, is certainly a hard one to turn down for the club. A $5 million transfer fee would be the second largest in team history behind the reported $6 million that Kansas City received from Fulham in early 2008 for Eddie Johnson. It would also allow the club to look to build for the future bringing in new players over the winter, the preferred window for Vermes to bring in players to the team.

On the other hand there are other reasons for KC to not want to do this deal, both on and off the field. On the field Kansas City's offense has finally started to click and a main part of that has been Dwyer, who leads the team in scoring with 10 goals so far this season. The team's next highest scorer is Benny Feilhaber with five goals, but only two didn't come from the penalty spot. After that it's the likes of Brad Davis, Lawrence Olum, and Jacob Peterson with two. Replacing Dwyer's output won't be easy, and with the transfer (and trade) window closing in less than a week, KC's options would quickly become very limited in their options to bring in another forward.

A sale of Dwyer would be seen as the team waving the white flag on this season by many fans, and off the field it's really not a good time for that. The club just this week started season ticket renewal for the 2017 season, and selling one of the team's more popular players and top scorers is not the type of thing that will get people excited to spend quite a bit of money on the team. I've already seen a few fans that have said that they would question whether they should renew if Dwyer is sold. Not necessarily because they are a Dwyer fan, but because of the message that sends about the team less than a year after the club sold also sold Krisztian Nemeth. Kansas City has long seen teams in city trade or let their best players go for nothing over the past few years; it's what helped create the perfect storm that made Sporting KC what it is in the city in 2011. Now if Sporting gives the impression that they are falling into that same path, they're going to create a lot of apathy among many fans of the team.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Omar Bravo made his NASL debut this past week for the Carolina Railhawks after recently signing with the club. Bravo started and played the full 90 scoring a goal in the 78th minute to temporarily put the Railhawks up 3-2 before Miami FC equalized shortly after in their 3-3 draw.

Elsewhere this week, Soony Saad got back on the scoring sheet in a big way, scoring a hattick in Pattaya United's 3-2 win over BBCU.

MLSJalil Anibaba - Houston - Started and played 90 minutes in Houston's 1-0 loss to Dallas. Started and played 90 minutes in Houston's 0-0 draw with Vancouver.Teal Bunbury - New England - Did not dress in New England's 1-1 (4-2) shootout win over Philadelphia. Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 1-0 win over Chicago.Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Started and played 65 minutes in Orlando's 2-2 draw with Columbus.Aurelien Collin - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 4-1 win over NYCFC.Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Dressed but did not play in Vancouver's 0-0 draw with Houston.Amadou Dia - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 5-1 win over Philadelphia.Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Seattle's 4-2 loss to LA. Started and played 45 minutes in Seattle's 3-0 loss to KC.Michael Harrington - Chicago - Dressed but did not play in either of Chicago's games.Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Did not dress in Portland's 2-1 loss to LA.Kei Kamara - New England - Started and played 83 minutes in New England's 1-1 (4-2) shootout win over Philadelphia. Started and played 89 minutes in New England's 1-0 win over Chicago.Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 5-1 win over Philadelphia.Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Dressed but did not play in NYCFC's 4-1 loss to New York.Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Started and played 44 minutes in RSL's 1-1 draw with San Jose.Amobi Okugo - Portland - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Portland's 2-1 loss to LA.CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Started and played 120 minutes in Philadelphia's 1-1 (4-2) shootout loss to New England. Started and played 78 minutes in Philadelphia's 5-1 loss to Montreal.Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-2 draw with Orlando.Sal Zizzo - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 4-1 win over NYCFC.

NASLBernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) -Out injured.Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Dressed but did not play in Tampa's 2-2 draw with New York.Omar Bravo - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Carolina's 3-3 draw with Miami.Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Dressed but did not play in Jacksonville's 2-0 loss to Ottawa.Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Started and played 90 minutes in Puerto Rico's 1-0 win over OKC.James Marcelin - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 3-3 draw with Miami.Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Did not dress in OKC's 1-0 loss to Puerto Rico.

USChristian Duke - Swope Park - Started and played 81 minutes in Swope's 1-1 draw with Colorado Springs. Started and played 85 minutes in Swope's 3-0 win over Orange County.Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 3-0 win over Tulsa.Ryan James - Rochester - Started and played 80 minutes in Rochester's 1-1 draw with Toronto. Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 1-1 draw with Bethlehem.Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Came off the bench and played 10 minutes, recording an assist in Charlotte's 3-0 win over Pittsburgh.Tony Rocha - Orlando - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Orlando's 2-2 draw with Wilmington.Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes, getting a goal and an assist in OKC's 3-0 win over Tulsa.Yomby William - Richmond - Did not pay in Richmond's 3-0 win over Toronto.

Sporting Kansas City took advantage of a slumping opponent that looks to have quit on their coach and were able to walk away with a 3-0 win over the Seattle Sounders. From the first whistle Kansas City was on the front foot keeping the Sounders pinned back not allowing them to get forward much. Jacob Peterson almost put KC up 1-0 in just the sixth minute after running onto a deflected pass, but Stefan Frei palmed the ball away for a corner. The early pressing paid off for Kansas City in the 21st when they took a deserv3ed 1-0 lead thanks to Dom Dwyer. Dwyer got on the end of a cross by Roger Espinoza after some good passing by Kansas City through the middle of the field. Espinoza received the ball out wide and had plenty of time to take a touch and pick out the run of Dwyer who headed the ball past Frei to give KC the lead. It wasn't all good news for Kansas City in the first half though as Graham Zusi, who just returned from injury had to leave the game in just the 41st minute being replaced by Connor Hallisey. Hallisey had a great opportunity to make it 2-0 in first half stoppage time after a turn over by the Sounders off a throw in. Hallisey was played in on goal but couldn't beat Frei with the effort. KC did make it two before the break though as Saad Abdul-Salaam raced down the wing before playing the ball back to the top of the box to an unmarked Peterson who one touched a shot past Frei into the far post upper 90 to make double KC's lead right before the break.

Kansas City continued the pressure in the second half while the Sounders continued to almost sleep walk through the game, they rarely were getting forward in KC's attack and Tim Melia wasn't very busy at all in the KC net. KC had a number of chances to add to their lead as Dwyer forced a good save out of Frei in the 61st minute on a shot from distance. Then moments late Peterson set up Hallisey on the doorstep but he miss-hit his shot with only Frei to beat and pushed his effort wide. Peterson almost got a brace in the 67th but dragged an effort just wide of the post while one on one with Frei. Finally KC got their third in the 79th on a giveaway by the Sounders. After passing around in their own end a poor pass towards the middle was easily picked off by Dwyer who walked in on goal and beat Frei to make it 3-0. The Sounders defenders all seemed to quit on the hospital ball giving Dwyer the chance to go one on one with Frei. KC continued to go searching for a fourth goal to pad the lead further but were unable to. Seattle finally got their first shot in the 88th minute of the game, a slow roller that was well wide of Melia's goal.Wizards Man of the Match - Dom Dwyer - A brace for the man linked with a move to Europe, Dwyer looked very good yesterday, was active and was really testing Frei even with the shots he didn't score.Honorable mention: Roger EspinozaPlayer Ratings: Melia 6, Abdul-Salaam 7, Opara 7, Olum 7, Medranda 8, Mustivar 7, Espinoza 8, Feilhaber 8, Peterson 8, Dwyer 9, Zusi 7. Subs Hallisey 7, Porter 5, Sinovic NR.

Fresh off a two goal performance on Sunday against the Seattle Sounders, the rumor mill is turning with Dom Dwyer transfer news. Late last night it was reported by Ives Galarcep that Sporting Kansas City had received a $3 million offer for the English forward from Greek club Olympiakos. Dwyer, who scored his ninth and tenth goals of the season in the win yesterday, is the club's second all-time leading scorer with 46 league goals.

While Kansas City may find the offer appealing, I'm not sure this is a move that Kansas City could or should make. After Dwyer, the team's next leading scorer is Benny Feilhaber with five goals, three from the penalty spot. KC just doesn't have the offensive ability to think that getting rid of Dwyer right now is a smart move. Selling Dwyer would be like Kansas City throwing in the towel on the season. It'd leave Kansas City with Diego Rubio as the club's only striker and would mean his back up would be Jacob Peterson or Cameron Porter, not a lineup that is going to give hope of an MLS Cup run. And with just over a week left in the transfer window for Kansas City there's not a lot of time for them to try to add depth (or another starter) if they were to make this deal.

While Olympiakos would certainly have its appeal, they're the defending Greek champions having gone 28-1-1 last season and are in the Champions League this season I'm not sure that Dwyer would want to make the move right now either. Dwyer and his wife, Sydney Leroux had been working to be in the same city since the couple got married in January of 2015. That goal finally came true for the pair when FC Kansas City acquired Leroux in a trade with Western New York. After the work they did to try to make that happen I'm not sure the pair is going to be that willing to go through that again, unless Leroux decides not to return to playing soccer after the birth of their first child later this year. While a salary in Europe wouldn't require Leroux to need to keep playing, I think she'd want to continue to play.

In the end I think Kansas City would need a bigger offer from Olympiakos to consider this move based on the rest of their roster at this time, and Dwyer probably will give some pause based on his family situation. A move while certainly possible has some things still in its way. And if you thought there were some mad KC fans when KC transferred Krisztian Nemeth to Qatar, just wait until you see the uproar a transfer of Dwyer will cause.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Sporting Kansas City welcome a desperate opponent to Children's Mercy Park tomorrow. The Seattle Sounders come to Kansas City tomorrow desperately seeking a league win trying to get their season back on track. Kansas City isn't in a great position themselves, but the Sounders sit eight points behind Kansas City, currently in ninth place in the Western Conference.

The Sounders and head coach, Sigi Schmid are so desperate for a win in league play that they basically tanked their US Open Cup game on Wednesday against the LA Galaxy putting out a far less than first team lineup in a 4-2 loss to the LA Galaxy. The Sounders started only a couple players who had made regular first team appearances for the Sounders, choosing to rest many starters for Sunday. They did throw on a few first team players like Brad Evans and Jordan Morris as substitutes, but for the most part the Sounders players got the night off. With that happening though the pressure is squaring on them to preform tomorrow with a team that is rested. They will have to play tomorrow without midfield destroyer, Osvaldo Alonso though as the Cuban is suspended for tomorrow's game due to yellow card accumulation. They will welcome back Clint Dempsey though who missed last week due to suspension.

While Seattle is certainly the team more desperate for a win, Kansas City can't say they don't need a win either. KC returns home after losing a pair of games on the road both on 1-0 scoreline. KC needs a win for themselves to try to keep pace in the Western Conference. A loss now could see them start to really slip out of the playoff picture as a busy August approaches and KC jumps back into two competitions with the CONCACAF Champions League. Peter Vermes will have his favored 11 available, specially on the back line, although the depth has taken a big hit. Vermes has been preferring the pairing of Lawrence Olum and Ike Opara, but at this point he's almost stuck with them as Nuno Coelho and Matt Besler are both battling injuries, leaving just Kevin Ellis as a back up central defender.

Davis - Dwyer - Zusi

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Mustivar

Medranda -Olum - Opara - Abdul-Salaam

Melia

Number to Remember - 1 - This series has never seen a win by a team by more than a single goal. Every game in the series between Sporting KC and the Seattle Sounders has seen a one goal winner. KC is 2-7-3 all time against Seattle and all nine games with a winner have been decided by the single goal.

Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Chad Marshall - Dwyer again is matched up against a center back a head taller than him. Kansas City will need to try to find a way to get Dwyer service, something that they've struggled to do over the past two games.

PREDICTION - Given the forecast tomorrow for the day in Kansas City this game feels like it will be anything but a free flowing game. The high pressure that Kansas City likes to use is either going to be put on hold for the game, or have to be used more sparingly because of a forecast that will see temperatures in the mid 90s and heat indexes over 100. With the way that both teams have been playing combined with the heat I just don't feel like this will be a game that will be on anyone's highlight films once the season ends and it'll be a result that neither team wants.

MLSJalil Anibaba - Houston - Started and played 90 minutes in Houston's 1-0 loss to LA.Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 83 minutes in New England's 0-0 draw with RSL.Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Dressed but did not play in Orlando's 2-0 loss to New York. Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 2-2 draw with Vancouver.Aurelien Collin - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 2-0 win over Orlando. Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 2-2 draw with Philadelphia.Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Vancouver's 2-0 win over RSL. Dressed but did not play in Vancouver's 2-2 draw with Orlando.Amadou Dia - Montreal - Did not dress in Montreal's 1-1 draw with Portland. Dressed but di not play in Montreal's 3-1 loss to NYCFC.Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Dressed but did not play in Seattle's 5-0 win over Dallas. Came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Seattle's 3-1 loss to Portland.Michael Harrington - Chicago - Started and played 83 minutes in Chicago's 1-0 win over KC. Started and played 90 minutes in Chicago's 3-1 loss to Dallas.Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in Portland's 1-1 draw with Montreal. Started and played 65 minutes in Portland's 3-1 win over Seattle.Kei Kamara - New England - Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 0-0 draw with RSL.Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 1-1 draw with Portland. Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-1 loss to NYCFC.Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Came off the bench and played 27 minutes in NYCFC's 3-1 win over Montreal.Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes in RSL's 2-0 loss to Vancouver. Started and played 77 minutes in RSL's 0-0 draw with New England.Amobi Okugo - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 1-1 draw with Montreal. Did not dress in Portland's 3-1 win over Seattle.CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Philadelphia's 2-2 draw with New York.Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 1-1 draw with Toronto. Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 1-1 draw with DC.Sal Zizzo - New York - Dressed but did not play in New York's 2-0 win over Orlando. Started and played 67 minutes in New York's 2-2 draw with Philadelphia.

NASLBernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) -Out injured.Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa's 3-0 win over Puerto Rico.Omar Bravo - Carolina - Did not dress in Carolina's 1-0 win over Fort Lauderdale.Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Started and played 90 minutes in Jacksonville's 3-0 loss to New York. Came off the bench and played 12 minutes in Jacksonville's 1-0 loss to Miami.James Marcelin - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 win over Fort Lauderdale.Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Did not dress in either of OKC's games.

USChristian Duke - Swope Park - No game this week.Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-1 win over Orange County.Ryan James - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 3-1 win over Montreal.Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Did not dress in Charlotte's 2-1 loss to New York.Tony Rocha - Orlando - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 0-0 draw with Charleston.Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in OKC's 2-1 win over Orange County.Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 win over Pittsburgh.

Daniel Salloi won't be returning to Kansas City, but he won't be playing for Vasas FC either. Sporting KC announced today that instead of being loaned to that club for the rest of 2016,he will instead be going to newly promoted club, Gyirmot FC Gyor. The timing of the move is a little odd considering the Hungarian league just kicked off this past weekend. Salloi's new club tied their first game in the top division with a 2-2 draw with Mezokovesd.

While on the surface the move is a little confusing, it becomes clearer with the revelation that former Sporting KC academy coach, Istvan Urbanyi is now the head coach of Gyirmot. Urbanyi had been a Sporting academy coach from 2014 until earlier this year when he left the club and took over Gyirmot. With that in mind and the fact that Urbanyi would have coached Salloi when he was in the KC academy, this move makes a ton of sense. Hopefully Salloi can get himself plenty of game experience.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Disclaimer: The stats from last night have Diego Rubio entering the game for Dom Dwyer in the 86th minute, when in reality it was in the 79th. As of right now I am going with the official scoring of the substitution, which was the 86th. KC has contacted the league to update official records so once that happens I will update mine accordingly.

Roger Espinoza made his 150th league appearance for KC, he's the 10th player to hit that mark.

With his appearance Espinoza broke his tie with Michael Harrington and Mo Johnston for 10th place on that list.

Espinoza made his 172nd appearance in all competitions for KC, tying him with Chance Myers for 11th on that list.

In the 32nd minute, Espinoza passed Josh Wolff and moved into 14th place for league minutes played for Kansas City. In the 62nd Espinoza then passed Jimmy Nielsen and moved into 13th place on that list, he finished the game with 11,526 minutes played.

In the 10th minute, Espinoza moved past Harrington and into 14th place for minutes played in all competitions. He finished the game with 13,357 minutes played.

Tim Melia made his 50th MLS appearance in his career.

Melia made his 50th appearance in all competitions for KC, he's the 65th player to hit that mark.

It was his 50th start in all competitions as well, he's the 55th player to hit that mark.

Lawrence Olum made his 100th appearance in all competitions for KC, he's the 39th player to hit that mark.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

A week that looked like it was starting out with such promise for Sporting Kansas City with a 3-1 win over New York City FC has come crashing down with a pair of 1-0 losses on the road after Sporting feel to the Colorado Rapids in Denver tonight.

The first half wasn't a great advertisement for the beautiful game as neither side really created much and the game really got bogged down in the midfield for both teams. Each side had good periods of possession but neither side was really able to do much with it as the two teams combined for just a single shot on goal in the first half, an easy save by Tim Howard on a shot from outside the box by Dom Dwyer.

The second half didn't improve things a whole lot for either side. KC got another injury blow as early in the half Brad Davis left with a calf injury, adding him to the injury list that includes a pair of probably starters for KC in Nuno Coelho and Graham Zusi. The game continued to drag out for both sides with Kansas City seemingly content to see the game go 0-0 and Colorado struggling to create going forward. In the 78th minute though things changed on a poor give away by Ike Opara on a pass. Dillon Powers collected the ball and fed it to Marlon Hairston (who'd made the initial interception) who dribbled at Opara and got him to bite on a touch to the outside. Hairston cut back inside and curled a ball into the far post to put the Rapids on top 1-0. Kansas City threw numbers forward again trying to find an equalizer but could only create a single shot on goal after going down a goal. Into stoppage time KC had a penalty shout that referee Drew Fischer decided not to call as Diego Rubio's leg got kicked out from under him by Jared Watts. The final whistle blew and while the missed call is certainly a big talking point, Sporting Kansas City's ineptitude on offense seems to have returned as has their penchant for shooting themselves in the foot defensively. After scoring six goals in two games, Kansas City seems to be back to the goal scoring form that saw them win just once in nine games before they went on a short unbeaten run.

Wizards Man of the Match - Roger Espinoza - Colorado really didn't get much going at all offensive tonight outside of a single giveaway by Ike Opara. A big part of that was due to Espinoza in the midfield. Colorado ended up playing a lot of balls over the top to bypass Kansas City's midfield and Espinoza.

Friday, July 15, 2016

On Wednesday night Kansas City had played the worst team in MLS in the Chicago Fire and fell 1-0, now tomorrow night in Colorado Sporting Kansas City will take on the best team in MLS in terms of points per game, the Colorado Rapids. The Rapids sit in second place currently in the Western Conference on 34 points, but have only played 18 games, compared to first place FC Dallas who has 37 points in 21 games. The Rapids currently sit with 1.89 points per game so far this season.

Colorado has been so successful this season on the back of its defense. The club has allowed just 13 goals through the first 18 games this season. And to make themselves better the club signed US men's national team goalkeeper, Tim Howard this past spring. With the transfer window open and his contract with Everton expired, Howard has stepped into the net for the Rapids giving them a veteran presence in goal. It's a bit disappointing for their former starter, Zac MacMath, who had been playing well in goal before being replace. The defense in front of the goalkeeper though has done very well for the Rapids, with Axel Sjoberg having himself a very solid season for the Rapids in defense. Offensively, the Rapids aren't a juggernaut, having scored just 21 goals in their 18 games with forward Kevin Doyle leading the way.

Sporting Kansas City got more bad news this week after the Chicago game with the news that Nuno Coelho re-aggravated the same hamstring injury that kept him out for a month against the Chicago Fire. It's especially concerning with the fact that Coelho felt that he was at 100% when he started Wednesday against the Fire. His injury forced Kansas City to recall Kevin Ellis from his loan to Swope Park Rangers and could make for an interesting center back pairing with Ike Opara maybe needing to be rested for his game and Matt Besler not seeming to be in form for the club. Kansas City also could be without Graham Zusi again as he's still questionable, a big blow after his big performance against the Columbus Crew in his last game. His absence could be felt more if KC goes with what's been an ineffective wing lineup with Connor Hallisey and Jacob Peterson, but with both starting on the wing Wednesday, expecting both again is probably unlikely. One is likely to start though with Zusi questionable and Justin Mapp apparently still not able to start a game.

Davis - Dwyer - Hallisey

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Olum

Medranda - Besler - Ellis - Abdul-Salaam

Melia

Number to Remember - 4 - That's the number of consecutive losses that Sporting KC has against the Colorado Rapids, two losses so far this year and two last year. KC lost five straight against the Rapids back in 1998 and 1999. The Rapids for the most part have been one of the teams that KC really dominates in league play, but that's mainly been at home. Still KC will be hoping the losing streak doesn't extend to five.

Key Match Up - Dom Dwyer vs Axel Sjoberg - Dwyer has been able to get himself space against bigger bodies, but Sjoberg is having himself a very good season for the Rapids. He's also a head and a half taller than Dwyer. Sporting's tendency to try to whip balls into the box against the Rapids this year has been far from successful with Dwyer going up against Sjoberg.

PREDICTION - On paper this game looks like it will be far from an offensive break out for either team. Kansas City on short rest isn't a high scoring team to begin with, and neither are the Rapids. With Kansas City on short rest that likely points to a bit more laid back approach from Kansas City, especially on the road at altitude. This game likely won't be the picture of pretty soccer, and unfortunately it's not one that I'm sure KC is able to walk out of with three points.

After a storm delayed the kick off of the game for almost two hours, Sporting KC took the field against the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park in the second game of three in seven days for Sporting. Shuffling the lineup a little bit KC looked to extend their unbeaten run to six. Unfortunately missed chances, missed calls, and missed marks left KC on the wrong end of a 1-0 defeat to the Fire.

Things looked like they had started extremely brightly for Kansas City as in the first couple minutes Dom Dwyer headed in a Benny Feilhaber free kick thinking he'd put KC up 1-0. Unfortunately for Dwyer and KC the assistant referee raised is flag signalling offside. On replay it appeared that Dwyer may have just been a little bit in front of the last defender, although many people will argue when it's that close you'd like to see those calls given to the attacking team. KC continued to attack but couldn't make much of their efforts not testing Sean Johnson in the Chicago net. The 19th minute saw the referee crew again involved in the play that led to the Chicago goal. After a foul on Kansas City Chicago took a quick restart as the referee Hima Saghafi blew his whistle to allow play to restart. On the broadcast shortly after the kick is taken you hear another whistle from Saghafi that would seem to signify that play was dead. Play continued though with Razvan Cocis crossing the ball into the box for Michael de Leeuw who had lost Matt Besler in the box and he tapped it home. Kansas City seemed to hestitate just a bit after that second whistle and it certainly cost them as Besler especially completely lost track of de Leeuw. Things got worse for Kansas City minutes later as Nuno Coelho went down with what appeared to be another hamstring injury, the injury that had caused him to miss a month of the season. Coelho was subbed out and looks like he'll miss more time for Kansas City. Sporting though continued to control the game, keeping the Fire pinned back as they hoped to play the ball long and allow David Accam to run onto. KC though couldn't generate much in the way of chances. Jacob Peterson had the best of KC's chances in the first half, first making a good run into the box but then firing a shot high and wide of the post and then in stoppage time he got on the end of a Connor Hallisey cross but put his finish back across goal and into the post. The ball bounced back into play and seconds later half time was called.

The second half continued to see the same strategy for Kansas City as they held Chicago in their own end. Chicago for their part was very willing to let KC possess the ball 25 plus yards away from goal and play in crosses to out numbered forwards in the box. KC didn't get their first shot on goal until the 80th minute when Brad Davis forced a good save out of Johnson off a free kick. The final 10 minutes saw Kansas City really push the game, throwing Ike Opara up as a target forward trying to find an equalizer. Later on Dwyer forced a good save from Johnson off of a corner kick that had to be scrambled away after Johnson got down well on the header. Late on Davis had another great opportunity from a free kick, but curled it just wide of the near post as Johnson scrambled over. KC though for all their pressure fell for the first time in five league games and will now travel to Colorado to take on the Rapids on Saturday to close out this busy week.

Wizards Man of the Match - Brad Davis - Gave the Kansas City offense life when he came on, his set pieces were on point and had some of the best chances of the game for KC coming in off the bench.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

The summer transfer window is open and a pair of former Kansas City players are on the move. First, former Kansas City designated player Omar Bravo has moved back to the United States having just signed with the Carolina Railhawks of the NASL. The 36 year old moves from Chivas in Mexico but will now return to the US. The other move is Marcel de Jong who is returning to MLS. After leaving Kansas City, de Jong had joined the Ottawa Fury of the NASL but has now moved to join the Vancouver Whitecaps. He'll get the opportunity to face his former club three times with league games and the Champions League still to come between KC and Vancouver.

MLSJalil Anibaba - Houston - Started and played 90 minutes in Houston's 0-0 draw with Orlando.Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 64 minutes in New England's 1-0 loss to NYCFC. Started and played 85 minutes, recording an assist in New England's 3-1 win over Columbus.Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Came off the bench and played 2 minutes in Orlando's 0-0 draw with Houston.Aurelien Collin - New York - Suspended for New York's 0-0 draw with Portland.Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Just signed to Vancouver.Amadou Dia - Montreal - Just traded to Montreal.Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Came off the bench and played 7 minutes in Seattle's 1-0 loss to LA.Michael Harrington - Chicago - Dressed but did not play in Chicago's 1-0 loss to Toronto.Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 0-0 draw with New York.Kei Kamara - New England - Started and played 90 minutes in New England's 1-0 loss to NYCFC. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in New England's 3-1 win over Columbus.Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 1-1 draw with Salt Lake.Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Came off the bench and played 11 minutes in NYCFC's 1-0 win over New England. Came off the bench and played 10 minutes in NYCFC's 3-1 loss to KC.Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in RSL's 1-1 draw with Montreal.Amobi Okugo - Portland - Did not dress in Portland's 0-0 draw with New York.CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Started and played 79 minutes, recording an assist in Philadelphia's 3-0 win over DC.Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Suspended for Columbus' 3-1 loss to New England.Sal Zizzo - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 0-0 draw with Portland.

NASLBernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) -Out injured.Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Started and played 90 minutes in Tampa's 4-1 loss to Carolina.Omar Bravo - Carolina - Just signed with Carolina.Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Started and played 90 minutes in Jacksonville's 2-1 win over Puerto Rico.James Marcelin - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 4-1 win over Tampa.Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Did not dress in OKC's 1-0 win over Ottawa.

USChristian Duke - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes in Swope's 1-1 draw with Arizona. Started and played 90 minutes in Swope's 2-0 loss to OKC.Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 0-0 draw with San Antonio. Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 2-0 win over Swope Park.Ryan James - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 1-1 draw wtih Cincinnati. Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 0-0 draw with Orlando.Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Came off the bench and played 9 minutes in Charlotte's 2-1 loss to Wilmington.Tony Rocha - Orlando - Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 0-0 draw with Rochester.Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 70 minutes before being red carded in OKC's 0-0 draw with San Antonio. Suspended for OKC's 2-0 win over Swope Park.Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 90 minutes in Richmond's 3-0 win over Harrisburg.

PDLAdnan Gabeljic - San Francisco - Did not dress in any of San Francisco's games.Faik Hajderovic - St. Louis U23 - Did not play in either of St. Louis' games.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Sporting Kansas City continue what is a busy week for the club with the first of two games on the road as they travel to Chicago to take on the Fire at Toyota Park. Kansas City has a trip to Colorado to finish off their three games in seven days, but will first have to go to Chicago and play, a place that Sporting has not done very well throughout their history.

The Fire are having another poor regular season, they currently have the fewest points in the league, just 14 points from their first 16 games. They've also been struggling to score, having scored just 15 goals so far on the season. The Fire though haven't been a bad team at home, sitting currently with a 3-2-3 record at Toyota Park, it's really been ther away form, where the Fire haven't won since 2014 that have done them in. Even with those struggles though the Fire can cause trouble for Sporting KC with their pace. Specifically David Accam, who leads the team in scoring can cause a number of problems for Sporting Kansas City.

Sporting meanwhile will look to continue their five game league unbeaten run on the road in a palce where they've won just four times in 23 regular season games there. The big question heading into the game though may be how much rotation Peter Vermes decides to go with ahead of a trip on Saturday to Colorado. Much has been made of Matt Besler's benching in favor of Lawrence Olum and Ike Opara as KC has gone on an unbeaten run with those two getting the majority of the minutes. With Nuno Coelho also returning from injury KC could look to mix things up a bit with their center back pairing just to give Opara and Olum a rest so they're ready for the game in Colorado this weekend.

Hallisey - Dwyer - Peterson

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Mustivar

Medranda - Besler - Coelho - Abdul-Salaam

Melia

Number to Remember - 4 - That's the number of wins that Kansas City has in Chicago in their history, it's actually not the location that KC is the worst at any more, that honor actually goes to San Jose now.

Key Match Up - KC Attack vs Sean Johnson - The Chicago goalkeeper has played just seven of Chicago's 16 games so far this season, but always seems to play lights out against Sporting KC. He always seems to come ready to play against KC and will make a number of decent saves. KC's attack has finally woken up, scoring six goals in the last two games, 10 in their last four, the offense seems to be starting to click.

PREDICTION - Chicago isn't a very good team, they've shown some flashes, but overall have been underwhelming this season. While Chicago isn't a place that KC is known to play well with the way Kansas City has been playing the last few games they should be able to extend the unbeaten run to six. The back line's ability to handle Accam and Michael de Leeuw will be key for Sporting, but I think they can come away with at least a draw.

Sporting Kansas City made a pair of moves today, first they added another player to their roster in the summer transfer window, picking up Emmanuel Appiah up off of waivers today. Appiah was the 15th overall pick in this past January's Superdraft out of Cincinnati where he was for five years by the Colorado Rapids. He'd been loaned to the Rapids' USL affiliate, the Charlotte Independence back in March. While with the Independence, Appiah appeared just twice before he was recalled on June 20th. He appeared on the bench for the Rapids in their 0-0 draw with the LA Galaxy on June 22nd before being waived on June 30th.

On first viewing, this isn't a signing that will get fans that excited; a few have already made comments about still missing Jordi Quintilla. This signing to me is a typical end of the roster summer signing for Peter Vermes. It feels in the same vein that Brendan Ruiz in 2013 and Michael Kafari in 2014 were players who were brought in on a flier because they were young and cheap to see if Vermes could find a diamond. If not the player has been gone before the next preseason.

His signing puts Kansas City with 26 roster spots filled currently, leaving them with two open slots at the moment if they are going to make any further moves this transfer window.Amadou Dia Traded to Montreal for Cameron Porter

KC also today announced that the club had traded defender and former first round pick, Amadou Dia to the Montreal Impact in exchange for forward, Cameron Porter. This was a move for KC that makes total sense. Amadou Dia had lost his spot at left back for Sporting KC with the emergence of Jimmy Medranda and signing of Ever Alvarado which saw him loaned to the Swope Park Rangers. Add in veteran Seth Sinovic and KC was overloaded at the left back position and you knew a move had to come at some point. Dia likely had the most value to other teams in terms of a trade partner with Sinovic having already said he was ready to retire after being selected by Montreal in their expansion draft.

In exchange Kansas City gets Montreal folk hero, Cameron Porter. Porter became an immediate Impact legend when he scored three minutes into second half stoppage time against Pachuca to send the Impact through to the semifinals of the 2014-2015 CONCACAF Champions League on away goals. Montreal would end up losing in the finals that year, but Porter would play no part in that. Unfortunately a couple weeks after that big goal Porter would tear his ACL in a game against the New England Revolution and be done for the year after having surgery. Porter hasn't played for the Impact since, although he has appeared for the Impact's USL team FC Montreal this season.

Porter gives Kansas City another attacking option and allows them to move some depth at left back, overall a trade that makes sense for both teams.

Sporting Kansas City continued their good recent run of form, extending their unbeaten run in MLS play to five games with a 3-1 win over New York City FC. The offense is finally starting to click and score goals after looking anemic for the first couple months of the season and the defense is still holding strong with both center backs who started the season now on the bench. Sporting almost made it look easy against the Eastern Conference leaders, pinning them back in their own end and allowing just three shots on goal all game, just one after the 14th minute.

The game started out at a frantic pace with Sporting Kansas City really pushing the game and pressuring NYCFC early on. The early pressure paid off in just the eighth minute when Benny Feilhaber was the first to react to a rebound off the post on a redirected shot by Jacob Peterson to tap the ball into the net to make it 1-0 Kansas City. Kansas City continued to push forward after the early goal and were almost immediately exposed on the counter by Jack Harrison and NYCFC has he raced by Jimmy Medranda and fired a shot on goal that Tim Melia pushed wide. A poor give away by KC in 14th minute gave New York their equalizer. Ike Opara made a poor pass forward that Andrea Pirlo knocked down and played to David Villa in a two-v-two situation. Villa fed it back to Pirlo who played it to an overlapping Ronald Matarrita who squared a pass into the middle of the box where Frank Lampard had ghosted in unmarked and he passed the ball into the near post past Melia. The game wasn't level long though as KC retook the lead two minutes later. A Feilhaber corner kick didn't get over the first man and was cleared to Medranda who was able to bring the ball down line his shot up and fire it on goal. NYCFC goalkeeper Josh Saunders had a clear view of it and dove to save it but the ball bounced right in front of him and over and into the net to put Kansas City back on top 2-1. Kansas City continued to push things looking to extend their lead with Roger Espinoza having a shot from outside the box saved by Saunders, then before half Diego Rubio really should have made it 3-1 after a ball found its way to him in the box, but his attempt at a curling shot into the corner went well high and wide of the goal.

Kansas City continued the pressure in the second half and found the third goal just five minutes in. After NYCFC failed to fully clear a corner the ball fell to Feilhaber at the top of the box who slid a ball through to Opara who had been up for the corner. Opara was brought down in the box but got up quickly and touched a shot past Saunders that rolled into the net to put KC up 3-1. NYCFC just didn't seem to really get into the game as Sporting was able to shut down their midfield and limit New York to just 33% possession for the game. KC continued to create chances of their own with Brad Davis firing just over the bar and Rubio having another chance at a goal late on after some good work down the wing by Connor Hallisey. Hallisey played a ball into the box that Rubio skillfully brought down and turned but couldn't get a good shot off with a defender right on his shoulder. It wasn't needed though as KC was able to cruise to victory over the Eastern Conference leaders.Wizards Man of the Match - Benny Feilhaber - Looked like the 2015 version of Feilhaber has been showing up recently for KC, Feilhaber had another solid performance, scoring a goal and setting up Opara's goal as well. He was also all over the field running the offense for Kansas City.Honorable Mention - Roger EspinozaPlayer Ratings - Melia 6, Medranda 7, Olum 7, Opara 7, Abdul-Salaam 7, Mustivar 8, Espinoza 8, Feilhaber 8, Davis 7, Rubio 6, Peterson 6. Subs Hallisey 6, Coelho NR, Mapp NR.

Saturday, July 09, 2016

Sporting Kansas City welcome New York City FC to Kansas City for the first time tomorrow in the second meeting ever between the two teams. With their arrival you have the best team in MLS on the road coming to Children's Mercy Park, where KC has had trouble consistently getting results. New York come into the game having picked up their fifth win of the season on the road with a 1-0 win over the New England Revolution on Wednesday. Not only are they a strong team on the road, but they are also playing well overall at the moment, having won their last four games, scoring seven while allowing just two.

New York seems to be clicking on the road when they get to play on a bigger field with more space than they have at Yankee Stadium in NYC. While they are 5-2-1 on the road they are 3-3-5 at home and currently sit on top of the MLS Eastern Conference. Their three designated players are now consistently on the field and contributing, David Villa is the current Golden Boot leader with 12 goals so far this season, Frank Lampard who was a villain at times for the club because his lack of play for the club has come back and has scored three goals since his return. Meanwhile Andrea Pirlo has a goal and six assists on the season to round out the DPs for the club. They're also getting very good performances from the likes of Thomas McNamara who has three goals and six assists on the season. Defensively they are also playing well right now, having not allowed a goal in their last three games, and have only allowed two goals on the road in their last five games.

Kansas City got a much needed win last week against a struggling Columbus side, but will need to be better this week to top New York. Sporting continues to limit the number of chances a team gets, but unfortunately is allowing too many of those few chances to turn into goals for their opposition. I'm not sure if it's the "new car" feel has worn off Tim Melia or if other teams are just getting the best out of the few chances they create, but Sporting can't allow New York those chances, they create numerous chances in a game, especially on the road and will punish KC if they are given the chance. The big thing for KC tomorrow will be replacing Dom Dwyer who is suspended due to yellow card accumulation. It'll be the first game of the season that he won't play in at all and will give Diego Rubio a chance to potentially play a full 90 minutes for the first time in a KC uniform.

Peterson - Rubio - Zusi

Espinoza - Feilhaber

Mustivar

Medranda - Besler - Opara - Abdul-Salaam

Melia

Number to Remember - 5 - That's the number of away wins that New York has this season. That's also the number of home wins that Sporting KC have at Children's Mercy Park on the season.

Key Match Up - Roger Espinoza vs Frank Lampard - The question may be how much time New York's three DPs get tomorrow after a midweek game, but Espinoza against Lampard could be an interesting match up to watch as Lampard may not have the legs he used to have but he does seem to pop up in the right places for NYCFC and Espinoza will likely be the one doing a lot of the tracking.

PREDICTION - You have a good road team playing their third game in a week against a mediocre home team who has a game this coming midweek. Sporting has been playing better since the beginning of June, but really need to start a string of wins to allow them to really move up the table. They've won two of their last three league games so continuing that streak is a must for Kansas City. Unfortunately I'm not sure that Kansas City has shown enough offensively to get things done against a NYCFC team that has looked quite strong this year.

The MLS Fan XI were announced today for this summer's All Star game at half time of Seattle vs LA today on ESPN. This year the All Stars will be taking on Arsenal at San Jose's Avaya Stadium on Thursday July 28th. Sporting KC will have at least one representative available for the game as Sporting's captain, Matt Besler was named to the Fan XI for the game. The final game day roster of 20 players selected by San Jose coach Dominic Kinnear and two by commissioner Don Garber will be announced next Sunday, July 17th. There's not guarantee that Besler's selection here will see him on the game day roster, but in the past only injuries have kept Fan XI players from being on the roster.

The game falls between a pair of home games for Kansas City that see them host Seattle on July 24th and July 31st against Portland.

Friday, July 08, 2016

It is silly season for MLS teams, the transfer window opened on Monday allowing clubs the ability to acquire players for the stretch run of the season. For Sporting KC, they've already made one move, signing Ever Alvarado as a left back, but most would argue that Kansas City still needs to find a goal scoring threat on the wing to take some pressure of Dom Dwyer. Now there are rumors that Sporting will be tapping into Peter Vermes' heritage for a winger.

Earlier today, Tomasz Mortimer, a freelance writer who has written for the BBC and ESPN Tweeted that there were rumors Hungarian captain Balazs Dzsudzsak would head for MLS instead of a rumored move to the Bundesliga and Schalke. Obviously in the past KC has found a couple players from Hungarian, helping revitalize Krisztian Nemeth's career, and signing Daniel Salloi as a homegrown player. That rumor was followed by another report out of Hungary claiming that Sporting Kansas City and the New York Red Bulls were the two MLS teams interested in Dzsudzsak's services this summer.

Dzsudzsak would certainly fill the goal scoring winger need for Kansas City, while the 29 year old only scored three times for Bursaspor, he has had success scoring, most recently in the Euro's with his country, where he scored twice in Hungary's 3-3 draw with Portugal that helped them advance out of the group.

While I would love for this move to happen and I think Dzsudzsak would fill a big need for Kansas City, I don't really see it. While KC has opened a designated player spot (which Dzsudzsak would certainly require to acquire him), the 4 million Euro price tag quoted by Mortimer would be a huge step up in terms of salary for Sporting KC. The club has never paid a player that type of money for a player. Meanwhile rumors out of New York about a splash signing would certainly seem likely to shell out the money. Also, turning down a move to a top five Bundesliga side that will be playing in Europe this season would be extremely tough for a play who had himself a good Euros. So while it's fun to dream about getting a Dzsudzsak jersey, I'm not running out to do it quite yet.

MLSJalil Anibaba - Houston - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Houston's 3-1 win over KC. Started and played 90 minutes in Houston's 1-0 win over Philadelphia.Teal Bunbury - New England - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring twice in New England's 3-2 win over the Cosmos. Started and played 85 minutes in New England's 3-2 loss to Montreal.Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Started and played 120 minutes in Orlando's 2-1 loss to Fort Lauderdale. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Orlando's 4-0 loss to Dallas.Aurelien Collin - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 2-1 loss to Philly. Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 1-0 loss to NYCFC.Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Came off the bench and played 5 minutes in Seattle's 1-1 draw with Toronto.Michael Harrington - Chicago - Came off the bench and played 11 minutes in Chicago's 1-0 win over San Jose.Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 loss to LA. Dressed but did not play in Portland's 0-0 draw with Colorado.Kei Kamara - New England - Came off the bench and played 29 minutes, recording a goal and an assist in New England's 3-2 win over the Cosmos. Started and played 90 minutes, scoring 2 goals in New England's 3-2 loss to Montreal.Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 3-2 win over New England.Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in NYCFC's 2-0 win over New York.Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Started and played 90 minutes, recording an assist in RSL's 1-1 draw with DC.Amobi Okugo - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 1-0 loss to LA. Dressed but did not play in Portland's 0-0 draw with Colorado.CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Did not dress in Philly's 2-1 win over New York. Came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Philadelphia's 1-0 loss to Houston.Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Started and played 48 minutes before receiving a red card in Columbus' 3-2 loss to KC.Sal Zizzo - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 2-1 loss to Philly. Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 1-0 loss to NYCFC.

NASLBernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) -Out injured.Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Tampa's 1-1 draw with Jacksonville.Marcel de Jong - Ottawa - Did not dress in Ottawa's 2-1 loss to New York.Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Started and played 90 minutes in Jacksonville's 1-1 draw with Tampa.James Marcelin - Carolina - Started and played 90 minutes in Carolina's 5-1 loss to Carolina.Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Did not dress in OKC's 1-1 draw with Edmonton.

USChristian Duke - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes in Swope's 1-0 win over St. Louis.Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 0-0 draw with Rio Grande.Ryan James - Rochester - Started and played 90 minutes in Rochester's 0-0 draw with New York.Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Did not dress in Charlotte's 1-1 draw with Orlando.Tony Rocha - Orlando - Started and played 76 minutes in Orlando's 2-1 loss to Fort Lauderdale. Started and played 90 minutes in Orlando's 1-1 draw with Charlotte.Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Started and played 90 minutes in OKC's 0-0 draw with Rio Grande.Yomby William - Richmond - Started and played 68 minutes in Richmond's 2-0 loss to Charleston.

PDLAdnan Gabeljic - San Francisco - No game this week.Faik Hajderovic - St. Louis U23 - Started and played 62 minutes in St. Louis' 1-1 draw with St. Louis. Did not play in St. Louis' 3-0 loss to Midland/Odessa.

Tuesday, July 05, 2016

The secondary transfer window for MLS opened today for the month of July and will close on August 3rd. With the window open teams can now acquire players via MLS trade, via transfer if the player is still under contract with another club, or by signing a player that became out of contract since the league's primary window closed. The third is how Sporting has made their first addition this window, bringing in Honduran left back Ever Alvarado.

This should prove to be an interesting transfer window for Kansas City as the club has really not been in this sort of situation since the club rebranded before the 2011 season. For the most part Vermes has used the summer window as a way to bring in players that may contribute some over the course of the rest of the season, but is an addition that is more looking towards the next year. This year though Vermes is going to have to go about it a little differently. While KC has had deficiencies in the past, when the transfer window has opened previously, KC has been in a strong position in league play that hasn't required them to use the summer window to acquire "game changers." Since the rebranding, KC has been looking to just fill a few gaps in the lineup.

Since the rebranding in 2011 the only time that KC has had fewer than the 25 points they have in 2016 through 19 games was in 2011 when KC had 23 points and were 5-6-8 with a schedule that had them play on the road just three times in their final 15 games. KC doesn't have the luxury of the home heavy schedule down the stretch this year and will need to adjust their plans accordingly. In 2011 when KC was behind in the table, even with the home heavy schedule they did make a number of additions, with some being towards the future while others were to help the team that year. KC brought in a designated player, Brazilian, Jeferson, on loan, and while he didn't work out, the effort was there to try to improve the team and get them back into the race for MLS Cup. KC also brought in Daneil Cyrus on loan who looked decent before an injury ended his season. KC's other three additions were for the future with Peterson Joseph and Lawrence Olum being signed and playing little while Soony Saad was acquired via a weighted lottery.

In 2012 through 19 games, KC already had 36 points with an 11-5-3 record and really didn't have the need to acquire much of anything in the summer transfer window. The club acquired just three players, Neven Markovic, who was brought in as defensive depth and made just two appearances for the club, Scott Angevine, who was mainly brought in to be available for a friendly, and Oriol Rosell, who despite starting the club's final playoff game against Houston, appeared just five times in league play and was seen as a player for the future when he was signed.

In 2013 Sporting was again in a fairly comfortable position in table position, having earned 30 points through their first 19 games, with a record of 8-5-6. On their way to MLS Cup that year Kansas City once again didn't make any dramatic additions to the team, signing mainly for future growth and depth. KC signed their third homegrown player, Erik Palmer-Brown, brought in Jimmy Medranda on loan, signed Brendan Ruiz, and right before the roster freeze signed Federico Bessone. Of those four players, only one played at all in 2013, and that was Medranda, who made a one minute cameo appearance when KC defeated the Columbus Crew 3-0.

While the second half of the 2014 season didn't go very well for Kansas City, they were actually in a better position through 19 games than they were in their MLS Cup winning season in 2013. The team had won 32 points with a 9-5-5 record through their first 19 games. This is the one season that breaks away from the pattern that Peter Vermes has followed in the past with additions. KC brought in three players, the biggest of those signings being Jorge Claros, a player that Vermes had been chasing for a while. Claros ended up playing in seven games, starting four of them and missed the final three regular season games due to a suspension. His addition was a long term play for Vermes as the club had been looking to replace Roger Espinoza since he left after the 2012 season, unfortunately that move didn't pay off. KC's other two summer signings that year were Michael Kafari and Martin Steuble, with Steuble being the only one to play a game for Kansas City, appearing twice.

Last year Sporting had again gotten out to a strong start and by the 19th game were considered a leading candidate for the Supporter's Shield and MLS Cup, KC had 33 points and a 9-4-6 record up to that point of the season. Again a poor second half of the season not helped by key injuries limited Kansas City to just their US Open Cup run. KC just made two additions over the summer in 2015, bringing in Amobi Okugo via a trade and signing Jordi Quintilla in the hopes of getting another Barcelona product success the same way they did with Rosell. Unfortunately Okugo, who most fans hoped would see time at center back where he'd been successful, played just three times for KC, all in the midfield and was gone during preseason. Quintilla made eight appearances last year in league play and also added the winning goal in the penalty shootout in the Open Cup, but was gone in June.

While it's certainly not exact, especially when you hear Robb Heineman throw out names like Marko Marin during pregame interviews, there is certainly a pattern of Kansas City using the summer window less when they are playing well, even with injury issues. The past two years injuries on the back line have made a center back seem like a logical summer addition but KC has never gone that route. The question now is whether Sporting will be more aggressive in the window this year with the team struggling. Vermes has said in the past that he prefers the winter window for acquiring players because those brought in during the summer have to get themselves up to speed and fitness for Vermes' system and that takes too long with a mid-summer signing for Vermes.

The addition of Alvardo would seem to point to at least a little more activity, as KC looks to shore up their defense with an international player, something KC has only done one other time in the summer since 2011, and that's when they grabbed Claros. It's an area of the field that hasn't been horrible for KC, but needed an upgrade over the committee that has been playing there this season with Medranda, Amadou Dia, and Seth Sinovic all having shifts at left back.

At this point, KC has three roster spots left open after the signing of Alvarado and waiving of Quintilla. It also keeps Kansas City with five of their international roster spots filled at this time. With Diego Rubio's loan extended the team said that he no longer occupies a young DP slot, which would open a slot back up for the team to use this summer if they want to.

For anyone that has watched Sporting this year, it's obvious where the biggest hole is for the team, it's in chance creation coming from the wing. While Brad Davis has scored three goals across all competitions, that's not the main reason he was brought in, he was brought in for his assists (which he has not recorded one of for Sporting since being acquired). Vermes has tried to keep the cutting in ability that worked so well with Krisztian Nemeth last year by inverting his wingers, playing Davis and Graham Zusi on their opposite wing so they'll be cutting in on their dominate foot, but it's not coming close to matching the threat that Nemeth posed for KC. Sporting isn't going to come back and find a straight replacement for Nemeth, but Sporting has to do something to look like a more serious goal scoring threat from other positions. Right now the goal scoring is very one dimensional in trying to get Dwyer the ball. KC is too reliant on crosses into the box for a 5'9" forward, who while good in the air is going to be handled much of the time by bigger center backs. The players that Vermes has brought in haven't panned out exactly as planned with the likes of Justin Mapp having not even played 30 minutes by this point of the season. At the same time returning players like Connor Hallisey and Jacob Peterson have been unable to fill the gap on the wings with any regularity, while people wait for the Zusi that plays with the national team to regularly show up for Sporting (like Sunday).

This will be an interesting summer window for KC, by no means do I think Vermes' job is in jeopardy at this point, but continued struggles this year and not addressing needs will make his seat hotter.

In their first league game back from the Copa America Centenario, both Matt Besler and Graham Zusi made their presence felt for Kansas City as they picked up a 3-2 win over the Columbus Crew at Children's Mercy Park. It took both players until the second half to really take the game over, but when they did both players did well. Zusi helped turn things around offensively, playing like the Zusi KC fans haven't seen consistently since 2011 or 2012, while Besler scored his first goal in almost five years to give KC the 3-2 win.

Both teams had some chances up and down the field as the game was open early on with both teams getting some opportunities to open the scoring. It wasn't until a defensive mistake by Jimmy Medranda allowed Columbus to open the scoring. Under some pressure, Medranda tired to clear a ball up field for a teammate when his better option was probably to kick the ball out of bounds and let the defense recover. Harrison Afful picked up the ball and played a nice cross into the box for Ola Kamara who bundled the ball home to put Columbus on top 1-0. Columbus continued to try to exploit Medranda's inexperience at the left back position to try to find a second goal but were unable to. KC's best chance of the first half came in the 36th minute when Zusi curled a great free kick towards goal from about 35 yards out. The shot seemed to beat Steve Clark, but didn't beat the cross bar, and Benny Feilhaber couldn't make good contact on the rebound. Columbus continued to find space on the counter but Tim Melia was able to come up with the saves KC needed to only go into the half down a single goal.

Just three minutes into the second half Kansas City found themselves with a man advantage after a red card to Columbus' Tyson Wahl. Ike Opara played a ball over the top to Dom Dwyer. The KC forward let the ball bounce in front of him as he entered the box. With Dwyer letting the ball run a little bit, Wahl ran into the KC striker knocking him down and earning him a red card for denial of a goal scoring opportunity. Benny Feilhaber stepped up and buried the penalty to tie the game at 1-1 with over 40 minutes left for KC to take the lead. KC didn't take long to make the man advantage count as they took the lead in the 56th minute. A ball headed around midfield eventually fell to Zusi who raced at the Columbus defense before firing a shot from just outside the box that beat Clark to put Kansas City up 2-1. KC continued to search for a third goal to extend their lead but couldn't find it. Eventually the Crew started to get themselves more possession and in the 75th minute found an equalizer. Tony Tchani found some space near midfield and played a nice ball that split the KC defenders allowing Kamara through on goal one-v-one with Melia and he curled a ball inside the far post to tie the game at 2-2. Level it looked like Kansas City may drop even more points on the road but a late flurry allowed KC to pull out a win. After the equalizer KC pushed forward again winning free kicks and corners in the Columbus end. At times it looked like KC was being too unselfish, but finally as the clock rolled into stoppage time KC found a winner. A KC corner was cleared out of the box but only as far as Medranda who picked his head up and played a curled ball to the back post where Ike Opara was able to meet it and head it back across the middle to Besler who only had to get a touch on it to direct it into the net for his first goal since 2011 and give KC all three points.

Wizards Man of the Match - Graham Zusi - In the second half looked like the DP that he is, creating chances for Kansas City, wanting the ball and setting things up. His goal was something I'm not sure I've seen him do in a KC uniform since 2011, and he was really pushing the game offensively for KC.

Saturday, July 02, 2016

With Sporting Kansas City crashing out of the US Open Cup on Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo, the team now has a singular focus for the next month and a half until the CONCACAF Champions League kicks off in August. They now have to focus on getting themselves back into the playoff picture in MLS's Western Conference as they currently sit outside the playoffs in 7th place one point behind the LA Galaxy, but having played two fewer games. KC's first opportunity to refocus on league is tomorrow when KC take on the Columbus Crew at Children's Mercy Park.

The Crew currently sit ninth in the MLS Eastern Conference with only 16 points through their first 15 games of the season, only the Chicago Fire and Houston Dynamo have fewer points this season than they Crew. Columbus has won just one of their last eight league games, a 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake, other than that the Crew have been drawing a number of games, having drawn five of those eight games. After a strong season last year the Crew have struggled on the field and that's led to problems off it as a disagreement over penalty duty led to their leading scorer, Kei Kamara being traded to the New England Revolution. They've also lost Federico Higuain due to hernia surgery making a tough season even more difficult for the Crew.

Kansas City hasn't had the in fighting, at least not publicly like the Crew have had, and while Nuno Coelho has missed time with injury, Sporting's defense has maintained itself near the top half of the league.The issue for Kansas City continues to be it's ability to score goals. Sporting is averaging a goal a games in league play, add in the US Open Cup and KC is scoring just over a goal a game. The team extended Diego Rubio's loan for the rest of the season and he's no longer a DP, which leaves the possibility of an addition coming in this window. Without some sort of change either via the transfer window, or via a philosophy KC is going to be lucking to make the playoffs in 2016.

Number to Remember - 79 - That's the number of consecutive sellouts that Sporting Kansas City has had at Children's Mercy Park. Tomorrow may well be the best chance in a while for that streak to end. The Cauldron still had a number of tickets for sale on their site while Sporting have been doing a number of advertisements and deals to try to move tickets. Add that into a rainy forecast on the 4th of July weekend and the sellout streak could well be in danger tomorrow.

Key Match Up - Benny Feilhaber vs Will Trapp - Trapp has become one of the better box-to-box midfielders in the league and is really good at breaking up plays for the Crew. Feilhaber will have his hands full dealing with him when Feilhaber gets forward on offense.

PREDICTION - Columbus has yet to win a game on the road this year, currently 0-4-3 on the season, but at the same time, no team has lost more games at home than the four games that KC have dropped at CMP this season. While Columbus don't have Kei Kamara they do have another Kamara, Ola, who leads the Crew in scoring with five. KC defensively can shut down the Crew, I'm just not sure they have the offense to get things done on the other end though, but tomorrow I think KC can and should get all three points.